It wasn’t quite all Apple news all the time last week—I decided to follow Apple’s WWDC meeting via the Web and spend most of the week reporting on, you know, all the other innovation around Silicon Valley and San Francisco. That said…
—At its annual World Wide Developers conference, Apple previewed the next versions of its desktop and mobile operating systems as well as a new system called iCloud for tying them together. But as I argued in my Friday column, Steve Jobs’ trip to Cupertino City Hall to present plans for Apple’s gleaming new headquarters campus was the bigger story, symbolizing the company’s growing global prominence in consumer electronics.
—It was a big week for Bay Area architecture. Salesforce.com unveiled the plans for its planned 14-acre campus in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district. The designs, by Mexico City architecture firm Legoretta + Legoretta, call for eight colorful buildings with roughly 2 million square feet of offices, along with extensive plazas and retail space.
—We published the first half of a two-part interview with Mike Maples and Ann Miura-Ko, the co-founding partners of Palo Alto, CA-based “micro VC” fund Floodgate. Part 1 covered the celebrated investors’ view of the democratizing trends affecting both tech startups and investors. Part 2, out today, delves into their views of specific trends in the startup, such as the rise of Y Combinator-style venture incubators.
—I profiled VigLink, a San Francisco startup with backing from Google Ventures that helps Web publishers be more systematic about collecting affiliate commissions when visitors click on links to e-retailers such as Amazon. CEO Oliver Roup told me that if Internet sales tax legislation pending in the California State Assembly go through, VigLink could be forced to move its headquarters to stay in business; Amazon typically cuts off affiliate commissions to publishers in states that pass such laws.
—Mountain View, CA- and Concord, MA-based PolyRemedy raised $20 million in Series C funding to pursue development of its Web-based system for ordering customized bandages for patients with chronic wounds such as diabetic ulcers. As my colleague Erin reported, PolyRemedy has been described as “the Netflix of wound care.”
—Reports surfaced that Mountain View, CA-based Google is in acquisition talks with Admeld, a New York-based startup that helps online publishers earn more from display advertising.
—My colleague Bruce profiled Tiburon, CA-based WaterSmart Software, which is developing a Web-based system that helps utility customers monitor their water use.
—In deals and fundraising news, Infineta raised $15 million, Violin Memory raised $40 million, VideoGenie raised $2 million, Room 77 raised $10.5 million, NextDigest raised $390,000, DisplayLink raised $8 million, Agile Energy raised $42 million, Kovio raised $15 million, and Liquid Robotics released details of an earlier $22 million venture round.
